China Welcomes Stephen Hawking on Weibo with Awe: British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking amassed two million followers within hours of launching his account earlier this month. His first message greeting his “friends in China” in both English and Chinese received hundreds of thousands of comments and forwards.

Facebook’s WeChat-ification: Facebook users will soon be able to buy goods directly within the social network’s app, a new feature that will be rolled out alongside friend-to-friend money transfers and ticket buying. All part of Facebook’s following of WeChat’s lead in monetising users beyond advertising.

Yashili Launches Formula Brand in NZ: Guangdong-headquartered Yashili will sell New Zealand-produced baby formula produced in New Zealand in a bid to make it appear more authentic and attractive to consumers in Mainland China.

The Students in China Learning and Talking About Wine on WeChat: Wine University on WeChat has taken off as a new way for tertiary students to talk and learn about wine. With nearly 7,000 followers across China, this new group uses WeChat to make it easy for regular consumers to hear expert talks and to chat about wine with fellow enthusiasts.

New Gadgets Help Pollution-Weary Chinese Breathe Easier: 83% of Chinese aged 20-49 own a face mask according to Mintel. Euromonitor found the number of air purifiers sold in China nearly quadrupled between 2010 and 2015 to 4.4 million units. Now a series of second-generation tools are hoping to woo pollution-conscious consumers.